Why Do Women Skip Heart Health Check-Ups?

June 23, 2017

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Most women report having seen their health care provider within the past year, but only about 40 percent say their check-up included a heart health assessment, according to results of a survey published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Of the 1,011 women surveyed by researchers at Cedars Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, 63 percent reported putting off medical appointments and 45 percent said they’ve cancelled or postponed appointments so they could lose weight first. This is significant because heart disease is the leading cause of death for women (and men) in the United States—a fact that 45 percent of women surveyed did not know.

The researchers discovered another alarming problem. They interviewed 300 physicians and found just 39 percent of primary care doctors identified heart disease as the top health concern for female patients.